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BA (Hons) Arts Management 1

SIGNIFICANCE OF ALBUM COVER ART AS A BRANDING TOOL

CASE STUDY: ‘HIM’

TEPPO HUDSON

APRIL 2006

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED AS A REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF

BA (HONS) ARTS MANAGEMENT

FACULTY OF ARTS AND HUMAN SCIENCES LONDON SOUTH BANK UNIVERSITY


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For a long time, I’ve been wondering the answer for the topic of this research. Along the road there have been numerous people supporting and shaping my life. Thank you all. The successful completion of this project can be traced back to these extraordinary people’s help:

First of all I want to thank Suzy Kerr Pertic for the guidance throughout this project. She and all the BA (Hons) Arts Management lecturers deserve my gratitude for enabling me to become what I want to be. There are no words to describe how thankful I am.

Secondly I want to express my gratitude to the interviewees Asko Kallonen and Jessi Frey. Especially Ms. Frey and rest of Velcra for being my family. Those countless hours on the road and on stage prepared me well for these studies.

A grand bow for my biological family – mom, dad and sister. I should have said thank you more often during these years but I am glad that your support never diminished.

Finally Shara Kim Moradi. Thank you for those long talks and midnight debates. Without your criticism, teaching of focused thinking and how to speak in short sentences I would not be who I am today. Your beautiful mind shall mark my words: we will change the world.

This is my law, this is my system, this is my force, my state, my mission

This is my way, this is my vision And the voice inside my head says

Let the pressure Let all the pressure out Obey your pleasures

Follow your deepest pleasures The things you treasure

Sacrifice the things you treasure Life’s a creation I wanna look back and feel proud

(Velcra – My Law)

Abstract


ABSTRACT

In recent years the development towards a completely digital business environment has affected the

music industry in many ways. One major challenge for organisations in the music industry has been

falling overall sales of music, and illegal downloading has been accused of being cause for this

slump. In an attempt to go beyond this simplistic assumption, studies are gradually focusing on

analysing these changes as constitutes of a new business environment that requires a specially

tailored strategies. Marketing has been cited as one solution in increasingly diverse and competitive

music markets. This research concentrated on one part of the marketing strategy, branding.

Branding in music is regarded important for economic success and yet album cover art is scarcely

studied subject. Therefore, this research aimed to study the relationship between album cover art

and branding theories, explored focused album cover creation and used a case study to define an

example of such a cover art creation. The research also aimed to elaborate the importance of this

component for success in the contemporary music industry.

On the one hand, the literature review investigated universal branding theories. On the other, it

examined theories of how consumers choose what they purchase and how the identity of a product

is created. The primary research, a semiotic analysis, focused on album cover art of Finnish rock

band ‘HIM’, whom have had commercial success and critical appraisal on an international level.

Analysis aimed to showcase a successful use of cover art as a branding tool. Primary data and

findings were elaborated with interviews with professional practitioners. All concluded in a

triangulation of the data from literature review, semiotic analysis and interviews to acquire the

significance of album cover art.

The main finding of this research indicate a need for thoughtful use of visual aspect in music and

also showcase certain characteristics of branding that are useful while producing album covers. The

changing business environment of the music industry requires new strategies, for which album

cover art can be a platform to execute. In a postmodern society people buy the message, rather than

the music, communicated through different methods of music, promotion, marketing and branding.

Well signified album cover, operating like an advertisement, reflects a focused message that is easy

for consumers to understand.

Contents


TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE ....................................................................................................................... 7 1.0 Introduction and rationale .................................................................................................. 7 1.1 Aims and Objectives.......................................................................................................... 8 1.1.1 Aims ........................................................................................................................... 8 1.1.2 Objectives................................................................................................................... 8

CHAPTER TWO ...................................................................................................................... 9 2.0 Literature Review .............................................................................................................. 9 2.1 The music industry ............................................................................................................ 9 2.1.1 Rock genre................................................................................................................ 10

2.2 The music industry in economic terms............................................................................. 10 2.2.1 Global....................................................................................................................... 10 2.2.2 Finland ..................................................................................................................... 11

2.3 The music industry’s business environment ..................................................................... 11 2.3.1 Changing marketplace .............................................................................................. 13 2.3.2 Changing mediation.................................................................................................. 13 2.3.3 Changing audience.................................................................................................... 14 2.3.4 Adaptation to the new marketplace ........................................................................... 14

2.4 New consumption............................................................................................................ 15 2.5 Marketing ........................................................................................................................ 16 2.5.1 Traditional marketing model ..................................................................................... 16 2.5.2 New ideas of marketing ............................................................................................ 16

2.6 Branding.......................................................................................................................... 18 2.6.1 Branding in the music industry.................................................................................. 18

2.7 Value of branding ............................................................................................................ 19 2.7.1 Branding in cover designing process ......................................................................... 20

2.8 Construction of an identity............................................................................................... 21

CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................ 23 3.0 Methodology ................................................................................................................... 23 3.1 Research approach........................................................................................................... 23 3.2 Case study ....................................................................................................................... 23 3.3 Secondary research.......................................................................................................... 25 3.3.1 Limitations to secondary research ............................................................................. 25

3.4 Primary research.............................................................................................................. 25 3.4.1 Semiotic analysis ...................................................................................................... 26 3.4.2 Message board questionnaire .................................................................................... 28 3.4.3 Qualitative interviews ............................................................................................... 28 3.4.4 Limitations to primary research................................................................................. 30

3.5 Triangulation of results .................................................................................................... 30 3.6 Summary of objectives and the methodology................................................................... 31

CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................... 32 4.0 Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 32 4.1 Greatest Lovesongs vol. 666 (1998)................................................................................. 33 4.2 Razorblade Romance (2000)............................................................................................ 34 4.3 Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights (2001) ................................................................ 35 4.4 Love Metal (2003)........................................................................................................... 36 4.5 Dark Light (2005)............................................................................................................ 37 4.6 Summary of the semiotic analysis.................................................................................... 38

Contents


CHAPTER FIVE..................................................................................................................... 42 5.0 Interviews........................................................................................................................ 42

CHAPTER SIX ....................................................................................................................... 44 6.0 Conclusion and recommendations.................................................................................... 44 6.1 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 44 6.2 Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 46

APPENDICES......................................................................................................................... 49

ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................. 54 GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................................ 55

LIST OF PICTURE REFERENCES IN ANALYSIS............................................................ 56 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................... 57

DISCOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................... 60

Contents


LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1 Genre market shares in the US……………………………………………………………… 49

Appendix 2 Top Ten music markets retail value 2003………………………………………………… 49

Appendix 3 Factors influencing purchases………………………………………………………………. 50

Appendix 4 The Beatles album cover ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’………………. 50

Appendix 5 CD size album covers of HIM…………………………………………………………………51

Appendix 6 Questions prepared for the semistructured interviews…………………………………… 53

CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Introduction and rationale


CHAPTER ONE

1.0 Introduction and rationale With the changes that communication and information technologies are imposing on the

way society consumes music, it is hardly surprising that the debate over the future of the

music industry is becoming increasingly diverse. Even less surprising is the feeling of

uncertainty that music industry professionals are feeling as overall sales decrease, even

though consumers are listening to more music than ever before. Culture journalists such

as Darren Waters (2005), Alexa Baracaia (2004), and Imogen Tilden (2004) have

analysed the implication of new media on the music industry, and the collective opinion

seems to be that illegal downloading is causing the slump in music industry sales.

However there are no proven evidence that downloading is the reason behind diminishing

sales.

One reason for the problems of music industry could be found in the production methods.

An argument by Theodor Adorno (1941) outlines how modern capitalism is burdened by

the problem of overproduction. Markets can only be stimulated by creating needs, which

are the result of capital rather than human logic and therefore, inevitably, false. The culture

industry is a central agency in contemporary capitalism for the production and satisfaction

of false needs (Frith, 1983). However some arguments, such as Baudrillard (1994), argue

that the production of ‘false’ needs is accepted in the postmodern society as part of a

good life. Any musical recording can be seen as a simulation. Therefore what is produced

might not matter, and more important is how the music is produced.

As an action against falling sales some industry associations, such as RIAA, have started

to blame the consumers actions of preferring to acquire music via the internet, and finally

sued illegal distributors. However this method has not proven to be a practical solution and

some standard adaptation for the new business environment is required. According to IFPI

(2006), in 2004 over 100.000 album titles were released globally. This quantity and

diversity of production requires differentiation from artist and records label to stand out.

Marketing could provide a strategy to create what, how, when and for whom to sell the

albums. Branding as a part of the marketing process could provide a measurable tool for

differentiation (Kotler, 2001).

CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Introduction and rationale


These developments and amount of discussions prove the necessity of an investigation

into today’s marketing strategies of the music industry. Yet with proliferation of articles,

books, and conference papers on the discussion of the future of music industry, there

appears to be a scarcity of work dedicated to examinations of the peculiar genre of album

cover art (Gronstad, 2004). Therefore this research project is to study the significance of

album cover art as a branding tool.

1.1 Aims and Objectives The main focus of this research is to explore the benefits of a focused album cover

creation and its relation to contemporary branding theories. This will be done by providing

a semiotic analysis of the album covers of the case study HIM, whom are a Finnish rock

band and have an interestingly clear focus in branding of their music. In addition, HIM has

an significant evolution on album covers use as a platform for branding.

1.1.1 Aims This research project aims to examine the significance of album cover art as a branding

tool, within the context of a changing music industry environment.

1.1.2 Objectives

• To analyse the visual imagery of HIM album covers

• To explore the importance of focused album cover creation

• To assess the album cover art’s relationship to branding theories

Kotler (2001) argues that fast changing business environment forces organisations to

rethink their strategies constantly. Therefore this research aims to offer a perspective on

one strategy that might be beneficial in the 21 st century.

CHAPTER TWO 2.0 Literature Review


CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Literature Review

Literature review consists from range of industry definitions, economic data and current

developments in the music industry to give understanding of the business environment.

Furthermore marketing, branding and the value of branding in the music industry is

reviewed.

2.1 The music industry

Authors such as Lathdrop (2003), Negus (1996), MMF (2003) and Shuker (1994) argue

that the music industry is part of the wider cultural and creative industries and consists of

three main operations: recording, publishing and performing. The recording industry

involves composers, producers, recording studios, A&R departments and designers.

These creative parties work in cooperation with the administrative parties such as

marketing departments, legal and accounting affairs, touring agents and artist managers.

Hutchison (et al. 2006) divides marketing departments further into artist relations, creative

services, publicity, radio promotion and sales.

Artistic genres in music are defined by Hutchison (et al. 2006) as Country/Folk, Pop, Rock,

Rap/HipHop, R&B/Urban, Religious and Classical. These are rather standard definitions

in the industry. The rock category has dominated the marketplace for many years, but the

35% market share has fallen to 25% over the past decade (see appendix 1). The major

shift occurred in 1998 as rap and pop started to gain a market share from rock. These

figures are from the U.S. market and the European market shares of genres are very

similar. However it is important to note that the above genres and market shares define

only western markets and cannot be applied to other nonwestern music markets.

Tim Wall (2003) defines popular music industry to similar categories of Soul, Rock, Metal,

Pop, Electronic, Rap, HipHop. For Wall the genre definition is a code serving two cultural

roles. First it is a code by which music is categorised and, second, this process of

categorising sets the rules by which popular music is produced, distributed and consumed.

Tim Wall’s arguments have been countered by Alan Moore’s (cited in Wall, 2003)



musicologist perspective. Genre relates to the musical form and distinguishes the style

that these forms are performed in from the audience’s perspective. However genre

definitions are often crossed in musicological terms. Therefore they are meaningful if they

are seen in relation to commercial or cultural process, not in relation to academic analyse

or musicological history (Wall, 2003). Consequent importance for production is to

understand how the audience categorises the artist, not whether or not it is musically in a

certain genre.

2.1.1 Rock genre

For the rock community the nonmusical aspects of the art form are important. Frith (1983),

Negus (1996), Shuker (1994) argue that rock has always been a particular ideology that

Frith (1983) defines as an subculture where the art form arises from and talks back in

direct, charged and organic ways combining different methods of communication.

Therefore rock is not just music, but a complex way of presenting the ideology involving

album cover art as well. In addition Keith Negus (1994) argues that diverse means of

drawing and executing influences, so called synthesis, has been an important aspect in

creation of distinct and unique identities in rock.

Negus continues that the peak popularity of rock is arguably The Beatles’ ‘Sergeant

Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ (Parlophone, 1967) album and that 1960’s and 1970’s

are considered as the ‘rock era’ in popular culture. These two decades coincide with cover

art’s rise to be part of music’s production as defined by Shaughnessy (1999). However no

studies have researched whether the rise of cover art is just a coincidence or due to rock’s

ideological execution of broad presentation methods.

2.2 The music industry in economic terms

2.2.1 Global

Music industry facts and figures are presented in annual releases by recording industry

associations such as IFPI, RIAA, BPI; media organisations such as BBC; and by writers

such as Hutchison (et al. 2006). According to ‘Global music machine’ by BBC World

Service (2005), a special report covering issues of music’s globalisation, over the last fifty

years music markets have grown to support a global recording industry worth 30 billion US

dollars annually.



Hutchison (et al. 2006) break the global market into regional market areas of North

America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. Top music markets in 2003 retail value

were U.S. ($11,848 million), Japan ($4,910 million) and U.K. ($3,216 million). Overall top

ten national markets for recorded music account for 85% of world sales in value (see

appendix 2). In recent years the global music industry has slumped 17% in value since the

peak in 2000, arguably due to the technological revolutions impact (Hutchison et al, 2006).

2.2.2 Finland

In comparison to the global size of the recording industry Finnish markets are small. IFPI

Finland (2006) accounts the markets to be 110 million euros ($131 million). More over

recent market trends correlate with global trends, and similarly the value of the market has

come down over 10% in 20002005.

2.3 The music industry’s business environment

Recent changes in the marketplace are in the structural and technological development,

as authors Baker (2003), Burnett (1996) Kotler (2001), Moeltgen (2005) and Vaknin (2001)

have considered. In a research project, ‘What are the business strategies of Londonbased

independent record companies in regard to the development of new technologies?’,

Pascal Moeltgen (2005) argued that saturated music markets and consequent increase in

competition have lead to oligopoly. Small numbers of large companies, such as Clear

Channel and Viacom in music broadcasting, and the major labels (EMI, Sony BMG,

Universal and Warner Bros.) in music recording, control most of the marketplace. For

example Universal and Sony BMG both had close to 30% market share of recorded music

sales in 2004 gained mainly through acquisition of smaller record labels. Marketing

specialist such as Baker (2003) and Kotler (2001) define these merges and acquisitions as

a strategy to reduce competition and create benefits through economies of scale.

The domination has been allowed by increased deregulation as a BBC report (2005)

outlines. Also the earlier mentioned large companies are often part of even larger media

conglomerates, which are trying to benefit from synergy of different yet related fields of

creative industries such as film, broadcasting and music. However the synergy is still to

prove its benefits and this lead AOL Time Warner media conglomerate to sell its music unit,



Warner Music Group, in 2005 to private investors just a couple of years after acquisition

(Hutchison et al., 2006).

The current situation is not without its critics. Hutchison (2006) states that economists

differ in their evaluations as to whether the marketplace stifles product diversity or

enhances it. According to the Future of Music Coalition (FMC, 2002) the development has

led to a ‘loss of localism, less competition, fewer viewpoints and less diversity’. The music

industry cannot sustain this and therefore the acquisition strategy backfires in reduced

interest from consumers. The FMC survey reported that consumers were in favour of

governmental intervention into the situation that has developed, as fewer new artists have

the chance of getting their music heard. In relation to this, Burnett (1996) argues that as

only a few companies control the market there is no incentive to invest in research and

development. Vaknin (2001) argues however that the larger size of organisations will

increase the rate of innovation due to a better ability to finance development of new artists.

In addition, as an album has a relatively short life cycle, 1218 months (Hutchison et al.,

2006), the recording companies are required to execute an efficient product development.

For Hutchison (2006) the indie label environment has proven it’s superiority in the

development of innovative artists and this need has lead to recent trends such as joint

ventures, distribution deals, vanity labels and imprints with major and indie labels.

On the other hand, the digital revolution seems to restructure music industry for the benefit

of more diverse production. For the London based Association of Independent Music (AIM,

2005) digital technologies provide a better and cheaper possibility to produce, distribute

and sell music globally. AIM reports that today in Britain as much as 25% of the music

released is by the independent sector.

However, the business environment is not just affected by structural or technological

developments. Production methods have a very important impact on sales as Adrian

Shaughnessy (1999) argues that commercial brutalism in the music industry is driving an

enduring depression. In his words, the forcing of a release, before the musical and non

musical aspects of the product are complete, results in poor sales as a consequence. The

music industry must realise that most people buy records because they are emotionally or

artistically engaged by them and album cover art plays an important part in formulating this

response.



2.3.1 Changing marketplace

These recent developments in the marketplace have required the industry to concentrate

on marketing as much as on music production. In an attempt to construct the importance

of marketing in highly competitive markets, Nirmalya Kumar (2004), a marketing professor

at London Business School, explains that higher costs of entering markets are due to a

ever larger and more complex marketplace. The costs he points out are mainly financial.

But the argument could also be related to a higher requirement for quality in every area of

the production, including branding. To achieve a competitive edge in the contemporary

marketplace, the artist must be able produce ever more innovative musical production, add

a layer of visual identity and be able to perform these identities in public. AIM (2005) note

that digital production and distribution is actually levering music production costs,

competition is increased and that other, nonmusical, factors should grow in importance.

2.3.2 Changing mediation

Studies such as Abercrombie and Longhurst (1999), Bolter and Grusin (2000), Dewdney

(1995), DiCola (2000), Lister (2001), and Lovejoy (2004) understand the current

digitalisation of the music industry as a sociological phenomenon. For Martin Lister (2001)

new media has become a backbone of a technocratic, open and ‘free’ society. In relation

to this, Peter DiCola (2000) argues that in the new business environment physical

mediation of music, such as the CD, is gradually disappearing. This is because in a digital

format, music’s reproduction is unconstrained. For DiCola unconstrained development will

ultimately lead music to become a public commodity, and commercial organisations to lose

their interest to provide music. However Music Managers Forum (2000) argues that,

instead of ‘commodity’, the music industry is emphasising the use of the term ‘content’ to

describe what they produce. Though digitalisation homogenises music to zeros and ones,

it does not mean that anything which can be digitised becomes mere ‘information’ and, by

implication, a commodity in the public domain.

Whether creating public or private content, Lister (2001) points out that technology is not

destroying the business model of the music industry but rather impacting upon the

mediation between the artist and the audience. Cover art by being an inherent part of the

productpackage should gradually change into digital form with rest of the package.

However there are no studies on how the role of cover art will change or whether it

completely disappears. One solution is given by Trent Reznor, an artist recording under



the name Nine Inch Nails, who has approached the concern by not producing a traditional

cover art at all. For the album ‘With Teeth’ (Interscope, 2005) he produced an electronic

poster that could be printed on paper or navigated on a computer, having a similar function

than traditional cover art.

In relation to this, Eamon Forde (2004) believes that the music industry will most likely

influence on the development of music mediation. This is because without the mediator

there is only a free floating mass of art that the audience cannot reach. However, Eamon

Forde does not suggest how the music industry could adapt as a mediator.

2.3.3 Changing audience

The current change in the marketplace involves the audience as well. Abercrombie and

Longhurst (1999) argue that many contemporary analysis link artist and audience as a

cash transaction and ignore social relationships, focusing on consumption rather than

reception. Contemporary audiences do not simply consist of a separated mass of

individuals, rather they are complex and interactive social groups who receive information

from many sources. Disperse audiences and modern decentralised communication

networks abolish the traditional concept of audience and replace it by countless sets of

consumers of unlimited variety. Dennis McQuail (1997) argues that the audience is not

‘produced’ only by using technological innovations, but also shaped by social factors of life,

like age, taste, income and friends. Altogether these changes are reducing the

homogeneity and simultaneity of the audience’s experience. ‘Audiences have become

visible fragmented and media of mass communication seem less ‘mass’oriented’ (Jones,

2000:226).

2.3.4 Adaptation to the new marketplace

The above arguments outline the forces for the music industry’s adaptation to change.

Audience fragmentation creates a need for a more complex branding approach to satisfy

these complex requirements. Robert Dowling (cited in Butcher, 2005), President of Film

and Performing Arts, VNU Business Publications and Editor of the Hollywood Reporter

raises the argument that due to new media, the biggest change in the music industry will

be the amount of choice for the consumers, whereas the mediation between the artist and

consumer has a much smaller impact. Therefore in efforts to secure cash inflow,

companies require new marketing strategies to reach increasingly diverse customers.



2.4 New consumption

In an attempt to go beyond the simplistic assumptions that ‘online music thieves’ are to

blame for the slump, studies are gradually focusing on analysing the change as a new

business environment that requires a specially tailored strategy. While the first reaction to

illegal downloading, Copy Control Technologies (CCT), created technological restrictions

on digital copying (IFPI, 2002), other strategies have sought to show marketing as a force

to drive growth. Accordingly, the President of the Recording Industry Association of

America (RIAA) Gary Sherman (cited in BBC World Service, 2005) finally admitted in

January 2003 that online peertopeer sharing (P2P) of music files is here to stay. Rather

than trying to eliminate the threat, the industry will have to accept that there will always be

some illegal activity. The record companies will have to find a way to compete in the digital

arena and offer something that consumers are willing to pay for.

One good example of new music consumption can be seen in Peter DiCola’s (2000)

interview with teenagers about music and downloading. Overall the focus group felt that

radio stations are playing too similar music; internet provided an alternative and a better

channel to discover new music; CDs are too expensive; and they wondered why people

still want to pay for music when it can be downloaded for free. The current situation is not

valued as good enough and this is reflected in a slump in sales.

The music industry is in fact starting to adapt in the changes at the market place. As a

result of technological development and marketing strategies developed for the internet,

internet sales are growing at a high rate – 200% in 2005 (Moeltgen, 2005; IFPI, 2006). The

future role of cover art as a branding tool is hard to predict, due to the speed of ongoing

developments in music industry. However the importance of marketing and product

differentiation should increase with the amount of choices available. As Kumar (2004) says

the strategy of out financing competition through economicsofscale is still to prove its

potential in the internet age.



2.5 Marketing

Marketing is a widely written topic by authors such as Anderson & Narus (2004), Baker

(2003), Bennett (1988), Boone & Kurtz (1999), Brown & Patterson (2000), Butcher (2005),

Hennessy and Jeannet (2004), Hutchison et al. (2006), Kotler (2001), Kumar (2004) and

Sarasvuo (2005). One of the most influential marketing theorists, Philip Kotler (2001)

believes that changes in the business environment are forcing organisations to rethink

their marketing strategies regularly. One basic strategy is to use tools to elicit the desired

response from their target markets. These tools constitute the marketing mix.

2.5.1 Traditional marketing model

Traditional mix involves 4 P’s: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Robert Lauterborn

(cited in Kotler, 2001) suggested that the sellers’ four P’s correspond to the customers four

C’s.

Four P’s Four C’s

Product Customer solution

Price Customer Cost

Place Convenience

Promotion Communication

Winning companies are those that meet customer needs economically and conveniently

and with effective communication.

Hutchison (et al. 2006) adds to the above that new products introduced to the marketplace

must somehow identify themselves as different from those that currently exist. This

process is defined as the customer’s perception of a product in comparison with the

competition or in short ‘product positioning’. Hutchison (2006) further notes that for the

marketing mix to be practical it has to be combined with a marketing budget and analysis

of markets to form the marketing plan or ‘guide to growth and success’.

2.5.2 New ideas of marketing

Nirmalya Kumar (2004), a collaborator of Philip Kotler, states the marketing mix approach

is old, and that marketing has to be involved in every part of the operations, not just for the

four P’s. In a postmodern society, companies must become marketorientated, market



driven or customerfocused, though this does not mean that markets drive the company.

True market orientation means that the entire company obsesses over creating value for

the customer and views itself as a bundle of processes that profitably define, create,

communicate, and deliver value to its target customers. Into this process the album covers

have to be involved to deliver value as with any other part of the product.

Robert Dowling (cited in Butcher, 2005) argues that confused people won’t buy something

they don’t know about. Therefore marketing, as a tool to create awareness, is due to

become an increasingly important part of music industry operations. He also says there is

a trend towards branded content because brands have builtin audiences, which can bring

in a lot of cost effective awareness. A marketing consultant, Jari Sarasvuo (2005)

elaborates: ‘postmodern society is an economy where the ability to differentiate among

the choices is the key to a commercial success. It is an economy where value is increased

by the use of symbols, branding, marketing, and tensions.’

Hutchison (et al. 2006) argues that the traditional marketing mix is too general model for

marketing. Consumers require increasingly personal advertisement that is less intrusive

and more intuitive. The overload of information makes consumers reluctant to pay

attention to messages that are not tailored to them. Marketing, under the new media,

should fragment into ultimate niche marketing, where each niche consist of one person

who is precisely targeted by their needs.

Musicologist and philosopher Theodor Adorno (1941), who is possibly the most significant

theorist in discussions about popular music, argued that popular music is nothing but

entertainment and far from music’s true aesthetics. However Longhurst (1995) analysed

Adorno’s extremely critical approach to popular music as being not a criticism of musical

content, but a concern between music that is market orientated and music that is not. In

other words, Adorno raises the question if marketing and branding requirements limit the

quality of music from musicological point of view. In relation to this, Brown & Patterson

(2000) argue that marketing can be harmful for the artist. ‘Popculture and popart could be

related to the ‘silentdisdain’ heritage sites, as being entertaining rather than educating;

displace decontextualised art; being all the same despite minor surface variations.’ They

especially point out that all art is in the hands of multinational capital and mendacious

marketers with logos, branding and promo stunts. In short, business orientation is



trivialising and twisting the truth. ‘Worst of all they pursue lucre and profit maximation’.

However, the Director of Barbican Art Centre in London, John Tusa (1999) says that even

though art and marketing are distinct concepts, both have a similar goal of having an

audience, which generates income to survive. So they have to live together in

contemporary society.

Brown & Patterson (2000) draw attention also to the argument that marketing in a post

modern world is an attempt to fabricate false copies of reality as a pernicious strategy of

simulation. Therefore recent years have witnessed the ‘marketisation’ of art and also the

‘artification’ of marketing. Although the art form of music is market orientated, the romantic

concept of art still holds: that it is superior to reality, the artist being exceptionally gifted

creating in for some higher ideal. However this can be seen as a marketing concept itself.

2.6 Branding

Branding is a widely recognised marketing method. Definitions by marketing theorists such

as Baker (2003), Boone & Kurtz (1999), Hennessy and Jeannet (2004), Hutchison (et al.

2006), Klein (2000), Kotler (2001) and Kumar (2004) argue that a brand is the symbolic

embodiment of all the information connected with a product or service. A brand is a proper

visual, emotional, rational, and cultural image or symbol associated with a company or a

product. It also encompasses the set of expectations associated with a product or service

which typically arise in the minds of people.

Acclaimed critic of corporate world, Naomi Klein (2000) argues that use of symbols for

marketing purposes were developed by marketing theorists in the 1980s: that successful

ventures must primarily produce brands as opposed to products. Klein also suggests that

the need for marketing strategies has arisen from the increasing amount of choice

consumers have. Corporations had to personalise, in other words brand themselves to

differentiate. The benefit of branding is its ability to be associated with positive emotions

and consequently attach the same emotions to the product.

2.6.1 Branding in the music industry

The music marketing theories of Kemp (2000) Lathdrop (2003), Music Managers Forum

(2003) define the marketing machine’s purpose as generating sales. But that is not all as



Tad Lathdrop (2003) argues. Music marketing theories differentiate immediate shortterm

sales and longterm ‘transactions’ that are more lasting: the establishment of an ongoing

relationship. Symbols and visual branding serve the latter. In the music industry this is also

called building the audience. Tad Lathdrop’s (2003) and Chris Kemp’s (2000) arguments

are very marketing orientated, such as that appropriate imagery should be repeated in

packages and in other promotional tools as this will create audience loyalty. They define

branding in music as a collection of goods (such as albums) identifiable through a unique

name, logo or other symbolic elements. A distinctive branding makes it easy for customers

to identify, at a glance, one album amongst others.

Music Managers Forum (MMF) (2003), London based association for the industry, relate

branding in the music industry to long term image building rather than with product

designing. This is the improvement process of overall public image with the introduction of

fresh and professional image of an artist. MMF argue that the image of an artist is

projected not only via a style of music but also by nonmusical factors such as cover art,

promotional photos, live performances and an important choice of the most suitable media

for the occasion.

2.7 Value of branding

Meaning of the visual representation is discussed in studies of identity and symbols by

such writers as Hakanen (1998), Benjamin (1936), Baudrillard (1994), Davis (1995), Karr

(2000), Klein (2000), Goffman (1959), Bignell (2002). The cover art is branding the product

through visual representation of values, which are identified with the product. Therefore

the cover art should have a certain desired content that is related to the musical content

(Baker, 2003).

The value of branding can be understood through an idea about postmodern society,

raised by Ernest Hakanen (1998): the need to order the world into easily identifiable ranks

and categories. Categorising the mass of choices is society’s way to interpret, to contrast

and compare signs. The values of a brand signify the person’s identity and leads to an

active enjoyment of the music. The value of a brand is, therefore, the emotional interaction

in a world of free choices. Actually ‘the free choice’ is a choice between identities of

different social categories or groups as the new consumer fetish is to collect repetitious



signs, to enjoy music that represents the personal identity. ‘The consumer freely collects

signs that signify the self’ (Hakanen, 1998, pp. 99). In relation to this, Judith Williamson

(1978), in her classic semiotic study ‘Decoding Advertisements’, argues that ads invite

viewers to create meanings, but in the process they create the viewer. Therefore the

artist’s identity is related to the audience’s identity.

The value of branding is its ability to create emotional loyalty, which emerges from the

signification of the self (Baker, 2003; Kotler, 2001), and consequence of loyalty is a

promotion tool wordofmouth. After pricing, wordofmouth ranked the 2 nd most important

influence on decision to buy (see appendix 3). The CEO of ‘the ideas company’ Saatchi &

Saatchi, Kevin Roberts (2003) argues that emotional loyalty is an unlimited resource with

unlimited power, because emotion always leads to action. Loyal audience will do anything

to see the favourite artist gaining recognition as it signifies recognition for the individual

audience member as well (Hakanen, 1998).

Simon Frith (1983) argues that the popular music audience appears to buy and listen to

the same few records at the same moment. The series of apparently individual decisions

about what records to buy thus takes on a collective force – everyone makes the same

decision. The same phenomenon can be seen in a research ‘Experimental Study of

Inequality and Unpredictability in an Artificial Cultural Market’. Salganik (et al. 2006) found

that the musical quality was not the only determining factor for the song’s popularity;

people are more likely to like a song if they think others admire it. The research indicates

that social influence is a major factor in explaining people’s actions. For music production

and marketing the research points out that content quality is not enough. Economic

success is an rather unpredictable combination of social factors.

2.7.1 Branding in cover designing process

Historical development of album cover art points out that branding is part of the cover art’s

designing process. Adrian Shaughnessy (1999) argues that it was The Beatles’ ‘Sergeant

Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ (Parlophone, 1967) that created the notion of the

albumcoverasart. There were memorable album covers prior to this release, but it took

The Beatles’ unprecedented popularity to alert the world to the potential of this new

platform for art. Up until the release of ‘Sergeant Pepper’, the commissioning of album

cover was a function of the publicity departments of record labels. The Beatles were the



first major act to commission the album cover design themselves after being ensured that

the cover art was an important aspect of the recording process (see appendix 4).

In the 1970’s progressive rock groups, such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, lifted the art

of cover design’s importance to unforeseen heights. This era brought the production

methods of advertising into cover art, yet retained the guerrilla aesthetics of earlier

designers. In the 1980’s and 1990’s marketing theories of branding reduced the complexity

of symbolic expression on cover art to comply with more coherent designing beliefs of the

times. But the importance of visual factors has increased since the 1980s due to music

videos popularised by MTV and other associated television channels (BBC, 2005). Adrian

Shaughnessy (1999) says that currently album covers are fragmenting into different fine

tuned trends and stylistic nuances. Moreover he emphasises that album covers are

important for the identity of an album.

2.8 Construction of an identity

The creation of an identity is discussed in part by philosophical writers such as Goffman

(1959) and Bignell (2002) and on the other hand by marketing specialist such as Anderson

& Narus (2004), Baker (2003), Klein (2000) and Kotler (2001). Sociologist Erving Goffman

(1959) argued that an individual reconstructs his or her identity and behaviour to fit their

needs. Construction of identity is part of Goffman’s theory of symbolic interaction; for him

society is not a homogenous, but there are infinitely different interactions that are

represented by symbols such as words. Therefore in case of albums, individuals need to

have symbolic structures in order to distinguish one from another and to be able to judge

does the album fulfil any needs. Cover art has an important role of representing the music

as a visual symbol.

It is usual to assume that reality imposes upon us to name things. However, one of the

most renowned academics in the field of the semiotics, Ferdinand de Saussure (cited in

Bignell, 2002) proposed that rather than reality imposing upon us, our perception and

understanding of reality is constructed by words and other signs. We are required to give

names to things in order to make them real. For reality to be understood every moment

involves and requires interaction of signs, which also translate values, ideologies and other

messages.



Therefore symbolic interaction and signs enable the traditions, style, values and

discourses to create the identity of the subject. In relation to this, Bignell (2002) argues

that visual, musical, and textual signs can create emotional ties. Therefore the use of signs

will enable the artist to manipulate the public’s perception of the identity. A good example

of the dialogue between the artist and audience is the American popsinger Madonna. One

of her greatest achievements is not her music’s excellence, but how she manipulated the

media and the public with music, cover art, videos, publicity and other form of branding to

construct her identity in the minds of the audience (Guilbert, 2002).

The strength of the symbols in marketing are always connected to society. Naomi Klein

(2000) gives examples of the signifying ability of a brand. She is talking about brands that

are able to disappear and become a simulation that signifies anything the marketer wants

it to. It can be intelligent, futuristic or alternative – anything, but it has to create mental

connections with the product it represents by using cultural metaphors. Hence, the brand

reinvents itself as a cultural sponge, soaking up and morphing to its surroundings.

According to Klein (2000) and Williamson (1978), consumers do not truly believe there is a

huge difference between products, which is why good branding must establish emotional

ties. Consequently brands do signify emotional aspects such as attitudes, values, looks

and ideas.

Klein’s ideas are reflected by both Baker (2003) and Kotler (2001) who argue that if there

are similar products, they have to distinguish themselves by using positive branding

connotations to emotional and abstract values. They also add that brands are rarely

created by advertising, but by emotional connections created by quality, convenient

acquiring, innovation and differentiation. Baker (2003) emphasise that the core of every

brand is a tangible product or service, which meets the customers’ need.

CHAPTER THREE 3.0 Methodology


CHAPTER THREE

3.0 Methodology

With the aim of identifying and analysing the significance of album cover art as a branding

tool, this research has adopted a semiotic analysis of the visual and textual signs in the

covers of HIM’s five albums released 19982005. This is combined with secondary

research of literature and semistructured interviews with professional practitioners.

3.1 Research approach

Although current developments in the music industry and marketing have been extensively

written about, texts concentrating on album cover art are scarce. Therefore this research

cannot built upon a hypothesis and test it in the markets. Consequently the research will

use an inductive approach to compare the findings of primary research with secondary

data collected previously. The significance of other branding factors such as music,

promotional pictures or live performances are not compared with the album cover art, due

to constraints in terms of time and money. These constraints impact upon the potential to

make wide generalisations and their suitability to be applied in a different context. On the

other hand, Rose (2005) argues that semiologists choose their images on the basis of how

conceptually interesting they are and there is no concern to find images that are

statistically representative of a wider set of images.

The decision to impose this particular method is based on the visual and signifying nature

of the topic. Shaughnessy (1999) defines cover art as representing the music as a visual

symbol or sign. Authors such as Bignell (2002) and Rose (2005) define semiology as ‘a

study of signs’. Therefore the logical approach for cover art analysing is semiotics.

3.2 Case study

The case study was chosen because the band has a strong identity in its art, they are

currently in a position of having both critical and commercial success, and HIM is the first

Finnish and one of the few nonEnglish speaking popular music artists to achieve a wide



recognition in all of the most important popular music market areas: Scandinavia, Central

Europe, the UK, commonwealth countries and the USA.

HIM is often pigeonholed as a gothic metal band, however their main influences are said

to be Finnish folk music and 70’s rock. After forming in Finland in 1995, HIM (short for His

Infernal Majesty) set out on the path with vocalist and songwriter Ville Valo as the band's

founding member, alongside bassist Migé Amour and guitarist Lily Lazer. After a few

changes, the line up of the band currently also includes drummer Gas Lipstick, and

keyboardist Emerson Burton. The 1996 EP ‘666 Ways to Love’ was the group's first

recording. One year later their debut album, ‘Greatest Love Songs, Vol. 666’ solidified their cult status throughout Scandinavia. ‘Razorblade Romance’ was released in 2000, which secured their European fame. ‘Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights’, the band's third album, arrived in 2001, followed by ‘Love Metal’ in 2003 made their name known worldwide. In 2005, HIM's early albums were reissued in America through Universal; they

also released ‘Dark Light’, the first album for their current record label, California based Sire Records. (All Music Guide, 2006). Combined album sales of the band were 2,5 million

after the fourth album and have most likely soared to over 3 million at the end of 2005.

Razig Rauf (2005), editor of London based webzine Drowned in Sound, described the

band as follows: “Having endured a decadelong ascendancy to the level of hysteria they

can now command, His Infernal Majesty – or HIM as they are better known – can hardly

be accused of being flybynights or not having worked their way to the top. Aiding their

rise was the creation of the ultimate branding for the teen angst generation in the

Heartagram. By blending the two key components of love and metal, HIM have the perfect

backdrop to their powerful, gothtinged rock ‘n’ roll”.

The bands’ trademark symbol ‘heartagram’ (a cross between a heart and a pentagram)

deserves attention. A simplified version of the heartagram first appears on the second

album cover. Since then the symbol has grown to symbolise the music of the band, Love

Metal as they call it themselves. Today the cult symbol heartagram is living a life of its own,

becoming mystified and celebrated among the band’s fans. Heartagram is an important

part of branding the band and was born on the album covers. An American music

magazine Rolling Stone (2006) states that the band is “…known for their "heartagram," a

pentagram halfformed with a heart”.



3.3 Secondary research

The literature was fundamental to informing the methodology for the primary research, and

could be regarded as a research practice within the methodology itself. The literature

review built the foundation for primary research through largely qualitative data on the

music industry, branding and cover art. The data included academic and professional

books, publications, articles, unpublished interviews and related websites. Books and

publications were sourced via library catalogues, electronic search engines and databases

at London South Bank University. Examination of governmental publications was done

with full recognition of any rhetoric or bias within their content. Bibliographies in books

were also examined as an important source to locate further sources.

3.3.1 Limitations to secondary research

After an extensive research of literature, the researcher was able to find only one book

which addresses specifically album cover art [Shaughnessy, 1999], and even this was

written for design students, not for management students. Therefore, it was often

necessary to address more general literature on the fields of marketing, branding and

visual meaning.

3.4 Primary research

Primary data is the collection of precise information especially designed to answer the

research topic. The researcher defines or eliminates, or at least monitors, the extraneous

influences on the data as they are gathered (Saunders, 2000).

There are two different types of primary data, quantitative and qualitative. Denscombe

(2003) and Saunders et al. (2000) argue that primary research can have range of methods

such as observations, interviews, focus groups and questionnaires to collect the data. The

main analysis in this research will consist of analysing signs and semistructured

interviews, as Gillian Rose (2005) argues that human culture is made up of signs, each of

which stands for something other than itself. One major strength of semiology is its

vocabulary for describing what meanings signs have. The descriptive breakdown of

images enables them to be related to marketing and especially to theories on the



importance of branding. Semistructured interviews provide an effective way to collect

additional qualitative data to support the findings of the semiotic analysis.

The information is then interpreted independently and furthermore triangulated with the

existing secondary literature review and qualitative interviews to meet the overall aim of

this research project and to facilitate informed conclusions and recommendations

3.4.1 Semiotic analysis

Rose (2005) argues that semiology is an approach to visual images which has been much

more prominent than either compositional interpretation or content analysis in the

development of the debates about visuals. Its prominence is due in part to the fact that

semiology confronts the question of how images make meanings. It is not simply

descriptive nor does it rely on quantitative estimations of significance. Semiology is an

analytical tool for taking an image apart and looking at it in relation to systems of meaning.

The method of semiology draws influence from several major social theorists, such as

Roland Barthes, Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault, Claude LéviStraus, Ferdinand de

Saussure and Judith Williamson. Rose (2005) continues that even though there are many

different analytical emphases within semiology, the common and most important tool is the

sign.

Professor Daniel Chandler (2006) argues that social semiotics has moved beyond the

structuralist concern with internal relations of parts within the selfcontained system,

seeking to explore the use of sign in specific social situations. Roland Barthes (1957), in

Mythologies, states that semiology aims to take in any system of signs, whatever their

substance and limits. These systems include images, gestures, musical sounds, objects

and associations of all these. He also adds, that no use of signs can be separated from

structures of ideology and power. Signs form the content, and the meaning arises from the

interrelated discussion of signs. Acclaimed semiologists Umberto Eco and Charles Peirce

(cited in Chandler, 2006) also elaborate that everything, even a thought, can be taken as

sign. Therefore a certain value is associated with everything that an artist stands for

through signs – musical or nonmusical.



Chandler (2006) continues to define human experience as inherently multisensory, every

experience is subjective with medium involved. Different media provide different

frameworks for representing experience. When we use a medium for any purpose, the use

becomes part of the purpose. It should be noted that the experience in question is not

influenced only by visual or musical media, but also by the technological aspects of the

media. In relation to this LeviStrauss (cited in Bignell, 2002) argues that the process of

creating something is not a matter of the calculated choice and use of whatever materials

are technically best adapted to a predetermined purpose; rather it involves a dialogue with

the materials and means of execution. As the means of execution change, so does the

communicative functions. For instance, many contemporary theorists have remarked on

the growth of the importance of visual media compared with linguistic media in post

modern society and the associated shifts in the communicative functions of such media.

Rose (2005) suggests that semiotic understanding of the sign depends in part on the work

of ‘the father of semiotics’ Ferdinand de Saussure. Bignell (2002) points out that the most

important contribution of Saussure was the understanding how language works. This work

has evolved to mean more than just linguistic signs. Signs consist of two parts, which are

only distinguishable at the analytical level. The first part is the signified and the second

part is the signifier. There is no necessary relationship between a particular signifier and its

signified. ‘The distinction between signifier and signified is crucial to semiology, because it

means that the relation between meanings and signifiers is not inherent, but rather

conventional and can therefore be problematised’ (Rose, 2005: 74). However Rose

continues that semiotic analysis should not set out an interpretation, rather investigate how

works are meaningful for the viewer looking at them.

The research will employ Dyer’s (1982) model of understanding what signs symbolise.

1 Decide what the signs are

2 Decide what they signify ‘in themselves’

3 Think about how they relate to other signs both within the image and in other images

4 Then explore their connections to wider systems of meanings, from codes to dominant

codes, referent systems or mythologies

5 Then return to the signs via their codes to explore the precise articulation of ideology and

mythology



In decoding of the signs the research used Rose’s (2005) model of decoding a picture.

The categories included were:

Representations of body (age, gender etc…)

Representations of manner (expressions, eye contact etc…)

Representations of activity (camera position, movements etc…)

Background and setting

3.4.2 Message board questionnaire

The researcher used message boards on rockgenre specialised webzines ‘Noise.fi’ and

‘Rokkizine.com’ as an inexpensive and time efficient way to gain qualitative data from

music consumers. Although the method fitted perfectly for the time and money constraints

on the research project, the amount of data failed to reach substantial amount and quality.

Therefore the results of this research are not included in the analysis and conclusion. Most

likely consumers would have required incentives for a deeper discussion on the cover arts

of HIM.

3.4.3 Qualitative interviews

Semistructured interviews are a good form of qualitative primary research, based on

interactive communication. The level of interaction the researcher more freely to respond

on the points of interest (www.marketingteacher.com, 2006).

3.4.3.1 Interview In order to give more indepth data for the objectives in this research, two semistructured

interviews were utilised. These interviews were designed to encourage the interviewee to

enter a discussion with the author around the topics approached through the questions.

Denscombe (2003) points out that the major advantage of qualitative research through

interviews is the interview’s adaptability and the possibility of finding out information that a

questionnaire and quantitative measuring of information would otherwise conceal.

The six questions in the interviews arose from the examined literature review and did

focused on cover art and branding in the rockgenre. The aim was to gain data from

professional arts practitioners. The interviews were designed for a period of 30 minutes



and were conducted over the phone, due to the fact that interviewees resided in Helsinki,

Finland.

3.4.3.2 Sample group The interviewees for this study were chosen through their background; whether working

closely with branding of rock bands or as cover art designers. Also the researcher wanted

them to be Finnish, so that they have a good understanding of HIM’s cultural background.

Saunders (2000) argues that to generate an effective semistructured interview the sample

group has to be small and purposely selected. Judgmental sampling enables to select

interviewees that will best meet the objectives of the interview. However it is important to

note that such samples cannot be considered to be statistically representative.

Subjects for the interview:

Ms. Jessi Frey – a media academic and the lead singer of the Finnish band Velcra. Has art

directed and designed two album covers for Velcra.

Mr. Asko Kallonen – Head of A&R at Helsinki Music Company that releases HIM’s albums

in Finland. Former head of A&R at BMG Finland for whom HIM was signed during 1997

2004.

Also considered for the interview:

Mr. Seppo Vesterinen – Manager of HIM. Responsible for business issues of the band.

Mr. Ville Valo – Lead singed of HIM. Also founder and the main songwriter/lyricist. Could

be considered as the artistic director of HIM.

Mr. Mikko Järvenpää – A marketing manager of Google inc. in London. Specialised on

product differentiation.

Mr. Herra Ylppö – A rock singer and graphic designer.



It would have been very good to get interviews from the band itself, but the researcher

failed to establish a contact. Phone interviews with Ms. Frey and Mr. Kallonen were

conducted in April 2006.

3.4.4 Limitations to primary research

The data collected in the primary research is completely qualitative. Although it does

provide some important insights into a certain topic, but in general the gathered data is

less representative than well conducted quantitative research, since it does not necessarily

represent opinions held by the majority (Saunders, 2000). Also in relation to this, the

research analyses only one single case study in rockgenre. More representative results

could be achieved by analysing the cover art of multiple genres and artists. Also, the

significance of branding factors such as music, promotional pictures or live performances

are not compared together with the album cover art.

Constraints in terms of time and money have prevented a sufficient scale of analysis.

These constraints impact upon the potential to make wide generalisations and their

suitability to be applied in a different context. Without case by case adjustment the results

can only be applied on the case study. On the other hand, Rose (2005) argues that

semiologists choose their images on the basis of how conceptually interesting they are

and there is no concern to find images that are statistically representative of a wider set of

images.

3.5 Triangulation of results

Denscombe (2003) states that by referring to two or more other coordinates triangulation

is a process of locating a true position. Therefore in order to enhance the results and

conclusions, this research has examined different perspectives through qualitative data

collection methods from semiotic analysis and interviews.

On the other hand, the researcher has remained cautious and critical of the notion that this

is a single case study research within the context of the overall subject matter, which as

the secondary research has identified, is a complex and multidimensional. Therefore the

use of triangulation has been conducted in an informed manner, as opposite to a naïve



attempt to uncover a single truth within the music industry. Through the process of

triangulation the researcher has attempted to assess the relationship between theories of

branding and professional opinions.

3.6 Summary of objectives and the methodology

• To analyse the visual imagery of HIM album covers.

• Semiotic analysis of HIM album covers

• To explore the importance of focused album cover creation.

• Semiotic analysis of HIM album covers • Semistructured interviews with professional practitioners • Triangulation of collected data

• To assess the album cover art’s relationship to branding theories.

• Evidence from academic literature • Analysis of semistructured interviews

CHAPTER FOUR 4.0 Analysis


CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 Analysis

Album covers can be understood as advertisements that operate as branding tools of the

product, in this case the album. In relation to this, Williamson (1978) argues that signifiers

in an advertisement have an overt meaning which processes into another, a less obvious

meaning. In addition, the creation of signs and signifiers in advertisements are purposely

selected to construct an identity or image that will appeal to the consumer.

Advertisements demand that we decipher them to single out clues that are already laid out,

creating an indirect method of what is insinuated. As Hakanen (1998) argues, our

‘production’ of meaning is in fact a ‘consumption’ of meaning. Some signifiers are

stereotyped to enable consumers to decode the meaning as quickly as possible. Cover art

provides an important iconic representation of both the album and what the album should

stand for. Thus, analysis of all of the HIM cover’s will strongly focus upon the ways in

which the photographic imagery generates the appropriate signified concepts.



4.1 Greatest Lovesongs vol. 666 (1998)

Original track list: 1. For You (intro) 2. Your Sweet Six Six Six 3. Wicked Game 4. The Heartless 5. Our Diabolic Rapture 6. It’s All Tears (drown in this love) 7. When Love and Death Embrace 8. The Beginning of The End 9. (don’t fear) The Reaper

In its way of signifying the music, the first album cover relies upon an iconic imagery. The

first impression of the album is the stereotyped signification of ‘Hell’ through black and red

colours in a smoky environment. The cover predominantly features a young adult man, in

his early 20’s on the foreground. He is the lead singer of the group, Ville Valo, and the

cover art uses a variety of opposing signifiers to create him as the signifier of the band.

The upper half of his body is shown without a shirt, representing sexiness, openness and

innocence. However the look is very androgynous. He is clearly a man, but with feminine s

aspects such as makeup, earrings and long hair. These feminine aspects are normal for

musicians in rockgenre and female fans have considered Ville Valo as a sex symbol since

the beginning of his career.

The body and rendering of the photograph are very

similar to the traditional representation of Jesus Christ,

such as Caravaggio’s ‘Flagellation of Christ’ (picture 1).

Even though the viewer cannot be certain, the man on

the album cover seems to have his hands tied behind

his back suggesting imprisonment and torturing. The

eyes point upwards and the camera angle points him

as inferior. On this level it is easy to relate these signs to sacrification and martyrdom. An

interesting semiotic element exist in the name ‘HIM’ and album name that are printed on

top the lead singer like scars, further signifying that he is the representation of the music.

All these above elements combined create a notion of tortured Christ in hell – a position of

contrasting sign of good and evil in western civilisations. The man is like the Christ

suffering the pain of the listener. This contrast of good and evil is further included in the

Picture 1



album name, song names and lyrics, in which almost every sentence involves something

that is associated with both good and evil. Music on the album is dark, distorted and

extremely melancholic.

4.2 Razorblade Romance (2000) Original track list:

1. I Love You (prelude to tragedy) 2. Poison Girl 3. Join Me In Death 4. Right Here In My Arms 5. Gone With The Sin 6. Razorblade Kiss 7. Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart 8. Heaven Tonight 9. Death Is In Love With Us 10.Resurrection 11.One Last Time

The second album of HIM has the most significant reference to

one of the major influences for the band: Jim Morrison. Mr. Valo’s

pose has similarities, such as mystical or dangerous, for the poses

of the Morrison’s most famous photos taken in 1966 (picture 2).

Musically, the album is the most rock n’ roll of all the band’s

albums. The rockclichés of shirtless, skinny, tattooed and furcoat

implicate the rock attitude of rebellion. The photograph is taken

below the subject’s eye level, giving him superiority over the

viewer. The body’s expression is not as defensive as on the first

album; rather it stands out as offensive. Furthermore the rock and roll’s rebellion is present

in the cigarette and leather pant outlook. The androgynous outlook from the first album,

with long hair, earrings and makeup is very present.

To support the rockgod image Ville Valo has a saint like halo circling

his head. However the rockgod image is the only reference to Jim

Morrison as the cover art includes a mix of gothic romanticism as well

(picture 3). Faintly printed patterns influenced from the era frame the

whole cover. Furthermore the colouring of pink and black give out

more a romantic than diabolic feeling. The pink colours are

picture 2

picture 3



uncommon in rock genre, and were purposely chosen to create controversy and to make

the album stand out (Kallonen, 2006).

The set up is similar to the first album. HIM is printed on front this with a greater contrast,

possible for the customers to see the name better. This album cover is important as it is

when the bands trademark signifier Heartagram is seen for the first time. This time the

singer is scarred with the symbol, implicating tortured soul associations. Altogether the

cover art continues the central theme of the band: ‘Love Metal’ – good and evil together.

4.3 Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights (2001) Original track list:

1. Salt In Our Wounds 2. Heartache every moment 3. Loose You Tonight 4. In Joy and Sorrow 5. Pretending 6. Close To the Flame 7. You Are The One 8. Please Don’t Let It Go 9. Beautiful 10. In Love and Lonely 11.Don’t Close Your Heart 12.Love You Like I Do

The softly focused quality of the photography and the album cover’s colouring of gentle

purple and deep black are signifiers that contribute to the melancholic gothic feeling;

however the film noir style contrasting lighting adds intelligent and

ironic signifiers, such as in 1932 directed film ‘Doctor X’ by

Michael Curtiz (picture 4). The cover art is also pointing towards

the album name, which draws influence from Hollywood and film

noir, filling the circle around the film noir theme. Musically, the

album is more settled and thoughtful than the rebellious earlier

ones.

The man on the cover, still vocalist Ville Valo, is covered with a Victorian era gothic shirt

and retains the androgynous signs familiar from the earlier album covers. The body’s

representation leans towards intellectual film noir. Mr. Valo leans a bit towards the camera,

holding a cigarette with hands positioned as if in a polite conversation with the viewer. This

picture 4



invitation to conversation also arises from how the camera is positioned, at eye level,

suggesting equality with the viewer.

HIM’s name is once again on the foreground, now framed with gothic ornamental patterns.

Remarkably the cover does not have the heartagram logo, which at this point of the band’s

career has grown to signify them.

4.4 Love Metal (2003) Original track list:

1. Buried Alive By Hearts 2. The Funeral of Hearts 3. Beyond Redemption 4. Sweet Pandemonium 5. Soul On Fire 6. The Sacrament 7. This Fortress of Tears 8. Circle of Death 9. Endless Dark 10.The Path

This album is a break in the band’s album cover tradition. For the first time the cover does

not include the singer. Instead there is the heartagram logo that by this time has

overwhelmingly grown to signify the band. Asko Kallonen (2006) argued that this album

was more a summary of earlier cover’s signs; sealing the band’s pigeon hole defining what

their music is about. By now they can pitch their art in two words: ‘Love Metal’. The

pitching is well supported by the symbol of the band. The Heartagram symbol signifies the

band so much that basically nothing else is needed on the cover. Noticeably not even the

name of the band or album, acting as a good evidence of the power of the logo. Musically

the album is very rock, while some tracks experiment with psychedelic sounds and

arrangements common in the 1970s.

The cover retains ornamental patterns which frame the golden heartagram. The contrasts

on the cover are very dark, making the cover almost black. The golden heartagram is

printed in a way that light reflects from it differently depending of the angle. Consequently

he symbol becomes be even closer for the viewer while shifting the angles for the light

reflection. It is like a secret for what the viewer has the key. Black and gold colours are

very royal, signifying the growing fame of the band.



Although the cover appears to be simple, its connotative meanings allow our interpretation

of it to be pragmatic one, in that its signifiers have particular relevance with regards to the

content of the music.

4.5 Dark Light (2005) Original track list:

1. Vampire Heart 2. Rip Out The Wings of a Butterfly 3. Under The Rose 4. Killing Loneliness 5. Dark Light 6. Behind The Crimson Door 7. The Face Of God 8. Drunk On Shadows 9. Play Dead 10. In The Nightside of Eden

This continues the tradition started on the Love Metal album to use the strong logo of the

band. On the official cover (released only in the US) the viewer recognises the familiar

symbol projected on one side of a multistory gothic style skyscraper, often founded in

New York. On top of the building, but more as on the background, are HIM letters as part

of the building. The name and the heartagram signify the building to as ‘HIM’.

The building stands against stormy rain and rising waves braking beneath. Through this

environment the viewer gets the feeling that HIM is the last resort and safety in a stormy

world. The skyscraper also signifies wealth, centre and power – factors attracting people in

the states of fear and uncertainty. In relation to the

protective imagery, the cover appears to be as out of the

world of Batman – superhero and the Gotham City. This is

clarified with gothic building, projection of the logo and dark

colours that are familiar from such as ‘Batman Begins’

movie (picture 5).

picture 5



Interestingly in Europe the ‘Dark Light’ album was released with a simpler cover, similar to

the earlier ‘Love Metal’ release (picture 6). The cover includes just a silvery heartagram,

band’s name and album’s name on dark blue background. The band’s fame in Europe

being very high and heartagram well recognised, might has made this decision possible. In

addition, as Europe does not have huge skyscraper culture the message of the US cover,

security and wealth, might have been misunderstood. The real reason for two different

album cover is not known for the researcher.

4.6 Summary of the semiotic analysis The album cover analysis reveals a continuous trend of images until the ‘Love Metal’

album, which saw the band change towards a more simplistic cover creation and labelling.

This break in the continuum created a new trend that continued to the next album, except

in the US which was a new market for the band. HIM’s heartagram symbol has grown to

signify the band very strongly and its relevance for the band is so important that they do

not need anything else on the cover anymore. The value of the heartagram for HIM is

similar to a trademark in any business.

Although the average consumer of music might not be aware of the complex signifiers the

HIM album cover create, or the technicalities of this process, he or she will still be aware of

the signification of good versus evil, most obviously through the Heartagram. This

relationship not only ensures the album cover’s uniform message, it also ensures the

cover’s plausibility: For it is the obvious contrivance between good and evil which allows

the recipient to view the cover within its generic context. Within this it is acceptable for the

band to sing soothing love songs and also be rockcredible by having the dangerous evil

picture 6



side as well. Therefore it is arguable that this acceptability would not be guaranteed if one

sign was not reinforced by the other. Especially important seems to be the love metal

album. HIM was able to create focused album cover, which says in one symbol and in two

words what their music is about. Such a clear definition makes the marketing efforts and

consumer recognition easier (Hutchison et al., 2006), possibly being reason for their wide

recognition.

By looking at the genre’s current competition on the markets and HIM’s earlier colleagues,

the inclusion of focused album cover creation is clear, although these are just samples. As

described in the literature review album covers in the 1960s and 1970s were more

complex. Rock bands from that era, such as The Doors (from the USA) and Black

Sabbath (from the UK) have album covers mainly without repetitive symbols or other signs

except the band’s name. The branding theories have not yet influenced the creation of

album cover art. However the communication of certain messages are seen on the bands

album covers. Especially Black Sabbath involves same good versus evil as HIM, but the

visual representation is not as branded. Possibly due to the reason that visual aspect of

music was not as important as it is today.

The Doors (in 1960s):

Black Sabbath (in 1970s)



Major influencer of HIM, as argued by Rolling Stone (2006), are The Sisters of Mercy

(From the UK) and The Mission (from the UK). Both started their careers during the 1980s

and have remarkable similarities with HIM in both their music and album covers. These

bands combine symbols and definitive signs to label their music into melancholic rock. In

addition the development of symbols and branding has taken a couple of albums, similar

to HIM.

The Sisters of Mercy (in 1980’s)

The Mission (in 1980’s & 1990’s)

One of the current peers of HIM, hailing from the same city (Helsinki, Finland), are The 69

Eyes. They have very similar image as HIM (goth and rock) and some would even argue

they are riding with the success of HIM. The 69 Eyes album covers have their logo clearly

visible on them. Although their covers do not have a clear symbol, the colours and feelings

are represented with uniform signs of dark settings. Another contemporary artist, whom

are often musically pigeon holed with HIM are the UK based Placebo. Whereas they do

not have a clear symbol as signifier, the band has evolved to employ anonymous naked

human body to signify the albums for consumers. The grey colours and bodies are

repeated in the latest releases of the band, similarly to HIM’s use of the Heartagram.



The 69 Eyes (in 1990s & 2000s)

Placebo (in 1990s & 2000s)

CHAPTER FIVE 5.0 Interviews


CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Interviews

Asko Kallonen (2006) argues that in popular music the meaning for a consumer arises

from the relationship of surface (photos, name etc.) and content (music). The surface has

an extremely important role in crystallising essence of the content. He pointed out that, like

in any product, branding is important for the differentiation purposes. Mr. Kallonen

supported the notion by Hakanen (1998) and Kumar (2004) that brands create a

relationship between the product and the consumer by representing certain values.

Therefore branding is a way of differentiation. In relation to this Jessi Frey (2006) argued

that branding is important in everything involving communication. This is because branding

enables the communication to be focused. Branding in music is often misunderstood as an

assembly line production strategy. For Ms. Frey branding in music could be better

described as having a good understanding of the requirements in the art form.

Ms. Frey argued the meaning of the album cover art is to guide the consumer while they

make their decision which album(s) to purchase. The more accurate and clear the guiding

is, the better its function as an advertisement is fulfilled. The message can use different

elements that support certain associations or clichés in a music genre. Kallonen (2006)

argued that HIM deliberately broke certain clichés (such as pink colour) on their second

album cover in order to create a more striking cover that a customer will not pass without

noticing it.

Although album cover art is important for marketing strategy, Asko Kallonen disregarded

the possibility of measuring cover art as a tool for generating sales. It is rather impossible

to measure how much sales are affected by a certain album cover, because as they are

created case by case comparisons are impossible. For research purposes a record label

could release the same album with different cover’s to measure the sales, but this would

be impractical and results would still not be scientifically relevant.

CHAPTER FIVE 5.0 Interviews


In regards to the overall importance of album cover art for the current digital revolution in

the music industry’s business environment, Asko Kallonen (2006) believed there will not

be a significant decrease. Because just the music is not enough; consumers will still want

to see who is creating the music. He argued that people are buying values and music’s

purpose is mainly to transmit these values. In addition the internet, by increasing

competition makes marketing strategies more important as the band has to differentiate

amongst it peers. In comparison, Jessi Frey (2006) believed that visual aspects are still

important in music, though actual album concept as the product might change,

consequently changing the album cover art’s standards as well. In the future, if album

cover art is seen as representing the music visually, then this platform most likely moves

into digital forms. Consequently becoming more complex through the possibilities offered

by digital technologies. Ms. Frey argued that in the digital environment cover art’s function

might be taken over by the band’s website, which can involve moving images, sounds, still

images, animations and other possibilities for visual representation. It should be kept in

mind however, as writers such as Bolter and Grusin (2000) and Dewdney (1995) argue,

that same principles of meaning and interpretation as in the mechanical environment are

valid. The digital environment mainly merges the methods of execution.

CHAPTER SIX 6.0 Conclusion and recommendations


CHAPTER SIX

6.0 Conclusion and recommendations

The issues raised in the interviews reflect the topics identified in the literature review. In

addition, the interviews support the findings of the semiotic analysis, it becomes clear that

the album covers of HIM have similarities to advertisements, and that the amount of choice

consumers have require artist and record labels to carry out branding plans for an album.

The study also identified cover art as a key component that arguably could be behind the

commercial success of HIM.

6.1 Conclusion

This research has attempted to give an analysis of album covers whose signifiers were not

only designed to give a favourable and appropriate image for the album, but also, these

signifiers were shown to have a strong relationship with the contextual message in albums

which the sign was located. In addition to this, as professor Chandler (2006) argues, signs

receive their meaning only through their opposite. Good is not good without evil or warm is

not warm without the feeling of cold. Regardless of the decade, similarities in the inclusion

of opposites can be found in the cover art of successful rockgroups such as The Doors

(1960’s), Black Sabbath (1970’s) or Guns n’ Roses (1980’s & 1990’s). These groups pose

the dangerous and mystical image of a rock god, but often sing about emotional tensions

between two people.

In addition to just representing the album, the covers are a surface for the artist to signify

what their art is all about. Cover art is a message that is directed by the artist, though as

Asko Kallonen (2006) elaborates, in cooperation with the record label. Appearances in

other media are often a vision of creators such as video director or journalist. Furthermore

Kallonen (2006) adds that promotion and branding materials evolve around the visual

imagery of the latest album cover. Therefore cover art also can direct the branding process

for the whole artist, not just for the album. However it is important to understand that in the

case of a rock band, there are numerous amounts of other branding factors, which work in

cooperation creating the image of an artist or a group (Hutchison et al., 2006).



As Hakanen (1998), Hutchison et al. (2006) and Williamson (1978), Kallonen (2006) and

Frey (2006) argue that consumers are not anymore buying music, but rather they are

buying the message that use music albums as its media. Therefore refined and

streamlined identity on the cover, like any advertisement, enables people to better

understand what the artist or band is about. The semiotic analysis of HIM covers show

how album covers can be used as a branding tool, but its impact on their success would

need more research.

Changes in the music industry’s business environment have lead to requirements of new

marketing strategies and adaptation attempts, such as economiesofscale, are still to

prove their potential. For branding, the cover art is one platform in use of a focused

message transmission (see chapter 2.3). In the 4 P’s of marketing, cover art’s use fit in

promotion for its communication abilities. In addition album cover is part of the product as

well, however there are now evidence that consumers purchase albums because of the

album covers (see chapter 2.5).

Branding of HIM has influences from universal marketing theories, as written by such as

Kotler (2001). In addition HIM has skilfully involved branding in the album cover art. This

research’s semiotic analysis showcases how the band has created a focused message,

which is represented on the album covers. This is very similar to what marketing theorist

(see chapter 2.6) and interviewees said: a brand is the symbolic embodiment of all the

information connected with a product and closely related to long term image building.

The significance of album cover art as a branding tool is this ability for a symbolic

representation as consumers are choosing signs that signify themselves (see chapter 2.7).

This evolves into emotional loyalty and recognition, which turns out to wordofmouth

promotion. Loyal fans will do anything to their favourite artist gaining recognition. However

album cover art does not increase the album’s content value, because the art form is

rarely considered as the reason for a purchase. The value of it can not be measured in

numbers, but in its qualitative ability to communicate and crystallise the essence of the

music. Frey (2006) argues that successful branding of music should in fact be part of the

art. Although cover art is not significant alone, it is the centre piece that influence visual

imagery of other branding tools in the music industry.



The main findings out of this project have been summarised and related to the objectives

as follows:

Review of academic resources, journals and other material in order to identify

relationship between cover art and branding.

• Music industry is in need of innovative marketing strategies as the supply of music is

increasing.

• Branding is an effective tool for differentiation through involvement of cultural

messages.

• Cover art has signs that involve certain cultural messages.

• In a postmodern society people purchase the message, rather than the music,

communicated through different methods of music, promotion, marketing and branding.

To assess the importance of focused album cover creation

• Focused album creation enables cover art to visually represent the cultural message

that the artist wants to transmit.

• Well signified album cover creates a focused message that is easy for consumers to

understand.

To analyse HIM cover albums

• Showcase of refined album cover creation

• The band has been able to refine their message into two words and one symbol.

Consequently the message transmitted becomes very clear.

• In theory shows one key component for commercial success

6.2 Recommendations

Even though this study examines a case that executes cover art as part of the branding

process, it is important to notice that the success of HIM’s brand arises from a creation of

a lifestyle. Cover art is just one tool in this creation of the lifestyle. The success of HIM

does not derive from huge sums of capital spent on advertising or production, but from the



band’s long term determination of inviting, involving and interacting their audience to be

part of the ‘Love Metal’ culture.

Development of this research should include studies on meanings of the cover art, cross

referencing genres and styles, and relating these to the level of success and musical

content. Rose (2005) argues that images gain meanings not only from their own signs, but

also from their relation with the signs of other images. Therefore it is necessary to consider

what sort of relation is the most important for images under consideration. Is it a relation

based on ‘content’? Or on a shared location of display? Or on explicit cross referencing?

Hall (cited in Rose, 2005) argues that most images produce a preferred meaning in a

society/culture as trends impose classification of the world. These are so called dominant

cultural orders. Therefore signs are mapped out into discursive domains, hierarchically

organised into dominant and preferred meanings. Majority of the audience can be

assumed to interpret these in ways that the preferred meaning is imprinted on them.

As album covers are not certainly the one and only branding tool for musical artist, there is

a need to study cross promotional tool’s impact on the consumers’ understanding of the

artists message. To gain a true significance as a promotional tool, album covers should be

analysed in comparison to the other tools used in marketing and branding. Issues requiring

more study are such as how much advertisement / music videos affect identity building?

Or how much consumers recognise album cover versus other branding tools? The

importance of tools might be different among genres; however the need for a message

seems universal.

Any study or use of branding should keep in mind that it is important to address questions

of cultural meanings and powers, to think the visuals in terms of cultural and social

significance. For instance this research project should be taken further by looking into how

the ‘love metal’ message is understood in nonwestern cultures. In addition, the overall

significance of visual representation of music should gain more attention from academic

and industry organisation. Because recently one lasting trend in music has been an

increased visualisation, and this has happened in every single genre (Shaughnessy, 1999).

Gordon Fyfe and John Law (cited in Rose, 2005) claim that picturing and seeing are

features of the process by which most human being come to know the world as it really is

for them. This does not mean that textual or musical context are not important in the



production of music, though visual representation might in fact be the most significant for

an artists recognition because, as John Berger (1972) suggests, ‘seeing comes before

words’.

Appendix


APPENDICES

Appendix 1 (source: Hutchison et al., 2006:41)

Genre market shares in the US

0 %

5 %

10 %

15 %

20 %

25 %

30 %

35 %

40 %

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

Rock Pop HipHop R&B Country Religious

Appendix 2 (Source: Hutchison et al., 2006:288)

Top Ten music markets retail value, 2003

Country In millions USD

U.S. $ 11,848 Japan $ 4,910 U.K. $ 3,216 France $ 2,115 Germany $ 2,041 Canada $ 676 Australia $ 674 Italy $ 645 Spain $ 596 Netherlands $ 499

Appendix


Appendix 3 (Source: Hutchison et al, 2006:233)

Factors Influencing Purchases

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

Direct Mail

Innovative Design

An Advertisement

Added Value promotion

Coupon

Seeing others using brand

Wordofmouth

Low Price

Appendix 4

Appendix


Appendix 5

Appendix


Appendix


Appendix 6 – Questions prepared for the semistructured interviews:

• Is branding important in rockgenre?

• In which ways can an album cover art increase the value of an album?

• Is cover art a measurable tool for generating more sales?

• Will the changing business environment impact on marketing strategies concerning

album cover art?

• Is band logo on album cover significant for the album’s recognition?

Appendix


ABBREVIATIONS

AIM: Short for ‘Association of Independent Music’. AIM promotes and protects the UK

independent record companies on a national and international level. AIM is a trade body.

They negotiate with the biggest players in the industry and government. AIM helps

companies of all shapes and sizes that are faced with a variety of problems on a daily

basis. They collect and disseminate information.

BPI: Short for ‘British Phonographic Industry’. The BPI is the British record industry's trade

association. Has represented the interests of British record companies since being

formally incorporated in 1973. Its membership is comprised of more than 320 companies

including all four major record companies, associate members such as manufacturers and

distributors plus hundreds of independent music companies representing literally

thousands of labels which together account for over 90% of recorded music output in the

UK.

CCT: Short for ‘Copy Control Technology’. Technology used to prevent music on a CD to

be copied on a computer harddrive and distributed over the internet.

IFPI: Short for ‘International federation of Phonographic Industry’. IFPI is a trade body,

representing the recording industry worldwide with over 1450 members in 75 countries ad

affiliate industry associations in 48 countries.

P2P: Short for ‘peertopeer’. A method of distributing files over a network. Using P2P

client software can advertise, send, or receive files with an another client

RIAA: Short for ‘Recording Industry Association of America’. Is trade group that represents

the U.S. Recording industry. Its mission is to foster a business and legal climate that

supports and promotes their members’ creative and financial vitality. RIAA members

create, manufacture and/or distribute 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and

sold in the U.S.

Appendix


GLOSSARY

Independent record company: A record company that is not affiliated in any way with a Major

Label, and uses distribution to their releases sold. Indies control 28.4% of the world wide market

share.

Major record company: A record company that commands a high percentage of the annual sales

of records, and had their own distribution system. The music industry is dominated by four major

companies who control about 7080% of the world music market. The major labels, that are often

referred as ‘the four big ones’ are:

• Universal Music Group: is the largest of the major labels with 25.5% market share. The

company controls about 25 labels, including Interscope, Island, Def Jam, Mercury, Motown and

Geffen. UMG is a subsidiary of the French telecommunications giant Vivendi Universal. UMG

has operations in 71 countries.

• Sony BMG Music Entertainment: is the second largest recording company in the world with

21.5% market share. Jointly owned by German media giant Bertelsmann and Japanese

consumer electronic giant Sony. Best known labels include Arista, RCA, LaFace, Columbia and

Epic. Sony BMG has operations in about 60 countries.

• EMI Group: Ranks third with 13.4% market share. Is based in the UK and owns the worlds

largest music publishing company. Home to labels such as Blue Note, Capitol and Virgin.

• Warner Music Group: has a 11.4% market share and was purchased from American AOL

Time/Warner media giant by a group of private investors in 2005. Owns labels such s Atlantic,

Elektra, Reprise and Rhino.

Appendix


LIST OF PICTURE REFERENCES IN ANALYSIS

Picture 1 Caravaggio. Flagellation of Christ. c.16061607. Oil on canvas. Musée des BeauxArts, Rouen, France.

Picture 2 www.laseretch.com/images/designs/d015w.gif (author unknown)

Picture 3 Photography: Joel Brodsky. Jim Morrison 1966 in ‘The Young Lion’ photo session.

Picture 4 Doctor X (1932), Director: Michael Curtiz

Picture 5 Batman Begins (2005) Director: Christopher Nolan

Picture 6 Sire (2005) HIM: Dark Light – The European version of the album cover

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DISCOGRAPHY

BMG (1998) HIM: Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666

BMG (2000) HIM: Razorblade Romance

BMG (2001) HIM: Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights

BMG (2003) HIM: Love Metal

Interscope (2005) Nine Inch Nails: With Teeth

Parlophone (1967) The Beatles: Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sire (2005) HIM: Dark Light

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